New plans -- again -- for Redfield mansion property near Midtown

The landmark Redfield mansion in Reno will have a new owner -- and new plans for the land around it.

It’s the second try at developing the land around the historic stone house at 370 Mount Rose St., west of the Midtown Reno commercial corridor.

Cottage Row at Midtown plans to build 14 bungalow-style houses on the 2.23 acres in the mansion’s shadow. Cottage Row is owned by managers at Tanamera Realty Advisors, which will close on the property within 60 days.

At this time last year, a 44-unit project was planned for the land around the 84-year-old mansion. That project didn’t materialize, and Cottage Row/Tanamera took over property from those developers.

The new plan is for fewer dwellings that will better match the area, said Tanamera founder and managing partner Kreg Rowe.

“We’re scaling it with the neighborhood so it’ll fit into the whole Midtown theme,” Rowe said Tuesday. The 14 homes will range in size from 1,800 to 2,100 square feet and parking along newly built alleyways in the back. “No garages in front,” Rowe said.

The bungalows will mirror Craftsman architecture of the 1930s and ‘40s, said Justin Rowe, a Tanamera partner/broker.

Part of Mount Rose Street will be widened to allow on-street parking, he said.

Groundbreaking should happen by mid to late June, with first occupancy about 150 days after that, Justin Rowe said.

The company will be putting the 3,800-square-foot Redfield mansion on the market after some cleanup, Kreg Rowe said.

Cottage Row aims to close the sales contract in the next 60 days. The mansion is currently owned by the Helen J. Jones trust, according to the Washoe County Assessor’s website.

No prices have been set for either the new houses or the Redfield Mansion, Kreg Rowe said. The current taxable value for the home and the land is $298,185, according to the assessor’s site.

According to Nevada author Jack Harpster, the mansion was originally built in 1930 or 1931 by a family named Hill, and was bought by Lavere Redfield and his wife, Nell, in 1936. The investor and land speculator once owned 55,000 acres in Reno and along the Carson Range.

Lavere Redfield -- “an extremely eccentric fellow,” Harpster said last year -- lived in the house until his death in 1974. Nell Redfield lived there until she died in 1981. The house was passed on to a relative, who continues to live there, Harpster said.

Tanamera has a number of developments in the Reno area, including the master plan for Double Diamond, Sparks Galleria Shopping Center and the Reno Tahoe Tech Center.